During a spring drill in March, Michigan's best defensive player took one step to his right -- and changed the Wolverines' season.

"I took a cut, and, went out to my right and just tore it," said Ryan, recalling his spring ACL injury. "I knew it. I knew when it happened."

What was on his mind immediately after hitting the turf?

"When the hell am I going to be back?" he recalled.

From the minute his teammates helped him up, and helped him off the field, Ryan's sole purpose in life has been based around that very thought.

His first question before surgery was how long it typically takes players to get back to full strength after a torn ACL. They told him six months.

So, six months it is. Come October, Ryan says he'll be on the field.

At this point, in Ryan's mind, that's not an if. It's a when.

"Six months is kind of like the absolute (earliest) time you can start playing the game of football with a torn ACL," said Ryan, an All-Big Ten linebacker last season. "October's my goal."

Ryan enjoyed a breakout season in 2012, racking up 88 tackles (16 of them for a loss) before earning all-league honors.

Currently, Ryan is participating in drills with the team during fall camp. He's not running through any padded workouts just yet, but the junior outside linebacker is doing plenty of running, and going through walk-throughs with the defense.

Physically, he's still on the mend, and some of that process is beyond his control.

The mental part of his recovery, though, is what he's currently trying to master.

"I've learned a lot of things from this, patience being one of them," Ryan says. "It all comes down to what I'm capable of doing, and what my mind tells me to do.